Hand tool



Dec. 10, 1968 El BRITTS 3,415,100

HAND TOOL Filed May 2, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l lNvENTOR. q FRANK; S. BRHTS V! V7 31 m 4am.-

Amwaw Dec. 10, 1968 F. J. BRITTS 3,415,100

HAND TOOL Filed May 2,1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

\ FIG. 4

NVENTOR. 52 FRANK .BRn-rs United States Patent 3,415,100 HAND TOOL Frank J. Britts, Largo, Fla, assignor of fifty percent to J. B. Hazelrig, Tampa, Fla. Filed May 2, 1966, Ser. No. 546,701 3 Claims. (Cl. 72-317) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hand tool for s-waging and flaring the end of a thin walled tubing wherein the tool is capable of simultaneously swaging the end of the tubing and forming an outwardly flared bead spaced inwardly from the end.

The present invention relates to a tube swaging and flaring tool.

'It is an object of the invention to produce a new and improved tool for swaging and flaring the end portions of relatively thin walled tubing.

Another object of the invention is to produce a tool for swaging and flaring the end portions of thin walled tubing which is portable and easily employed.

Still another object of the invention is to produce a hand tool for swaging and flaring the end portions of thin walled tubing which is readily and economically manufactured.

The above and other objects of the invention may be achieved by a tool comprised of a frame; a force applying member reciprocably mounted on the frame; a die member mounted for reciprocal movement with the force applying member; and tube clamping means on the frame for holding a tube in axial alignment with the force applying member and the die member, the die member having a recess for receiving the end of a tube, the recess including an annular flare forming opening of a diameter larger than the diameter of the tube and of the diameter of the flared section to be formed, side wall of the opening tapering radially inwardly and terminating in a swaging portion disposed adjacent the flare forming opening and having a tapering side wall, the side wall tapering from termination of the flare forming opening and terminating at a shoulder portion formed at the innermost end of the recess.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent from reading the following de tailed description of an embodiment of the invention when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a swaging and flaring tool incorporating the principles of the invention in a position of use prior to the forming of the tube;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the tool illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the tool illustrated in FIGURE 1 showing the tool disassembled after the tube has been swaged and flared; and

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of the die body of the invention.

Referring to the drawings there is shown an apparatus which comprises a tool including an inverted U-shaped frame portion 12 having a pair of legs 14 and 16 each integrally secured at one end of the base 18 of the U. The opposite ends of the legs 14 and 16 are provided with notches 20 and 22 respectively for engagement with opposing side walls of a pair of tube clamping blocks 24 and 26. The blocks 24 and 26 are each provided with semi-circular tube holding recesses 28 and 30. These blocks may be held together at the ends in clamped position upon a lengthof tubing 32 by means of bolts 34 and 36 pivotally mounted at the ends of the block 24 and held in position in a hole or slot in the other block 26 by wing nuts 38 in the well-known manner. The blocks 24 and 26 may also be provided with additional recesses 40 and 42 to accommodate tubes of various diameters.

The base 18 of the U-shaped frame portion 12 is provided with a threaded aperture 44 and a threaded shaft 46 is mounted therein. The shaft 46 has a head 48 and a handle 50 extending transversely thereto and adapted to rotate the shaft to move the same up or down.

The swaging and flaring operations are effected by a die body 52 which is provided with an axially extending internally threaded recess 54. A connector 56 having one end 58 provided with external threads is adapted to be threadably received within the threaded recess 54. The opposite end of the connector 56 is provided with an axially extending recess 60 for receiving an enlarged cylindrical thrust element 62 of the shaft 46. The thrust element 62 is retained within the recess by means of an internally threaded collar 64 which engages the threads on the upper portion 66 of the connector 56. Thereby, the shaft 46 is swivelly secured to the die body 52.

The lower portion of the die body 52 is provided with an axially inwardly extending recess 68 which includes at the outermost end an annualar flare forming opening 70 which tapers radially inwardly and terminates in a swaging portion 72. The line where the flare forming opening 70 and the swaging portion 72 merge is typically approximately the same diameter as the original outside diameter of the tube 32 being formed. The swaging portion 72 tapers inwardly and terminates in a shoulder 74- which effectively blocks any inward movement of the end of the tube 32 there beyond. Of course, it will be understood that the die body 52 could likewise be formed with the recess 68 terminating at the shoulder 74 thereby creating a complete wall preventing further inward movement of the end of the tube 32 as the die body is moved into operative position toward the blocks 24 and 26.

In operation, a length of tube 32 of proper size is initially clamped between the clamping bars 24 and 26 as illustrated in FIGURE 1 with a portion of the tube 32 extending above the blocks. With the tube in place, the U-shaped frame 12 is then slid over the blocks 24 and 26 until the notches 20 and 22 properly engage the side portions of the respective blocks and the die body 52 is properly centered above the open end of the tube 32. The threaded shaft 46 is screwed downwardly by turning the handle 50 until the end of the tube 32 is received within the flare forming opening 70 of the recess 68.

As more pressure is exerted upon the handle 50, the die is thrust over the end of the tube 32 until the end thereof contacts the outermost end of the tapering swaging portion 72. Further pressure causes the tube 32 to be swaged inwardly by the tapering side wall of the swaging portion 72. This continues until the end of the tube 32 contacts the shoulder 74, whereupon further pressure causes the excess of metal of the tubing to be flared outwardly against the side wall of the opening 70 and the annular recess formed at the top of the cooperating tube holding recesses of the blocks 24 and 26. The thus formed portion of the tubing 32 assumes the shape of an outwardly extending O'ring type flare 76, as is clearly illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3.

When the lower surface of the die body 52 comes into contact with the upper surfaces of the blocks 24 and 26, the operation is completed, forming the: end of the tube 32 with a swaged end 78 and an associated outwardly extending O-ring type flare 76 as shown in FIGURE 3.

It will be apparent from the above description that there has been provide-d a portable hand operated tool which effectively swages the terminal end of a tube and simultaneously forms an associated outwardly extending O-ring type flare. The resultant formed tube may be used in air-conditioning systems to replace the tubes formed by the presently employed tools which only effect a swaging operation or alternatively a flaring operation of the remote end of the associated tubing.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes I have explained the principle and mode of operation of my invention and have illustrated and described What I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

What I claim is:

1. In a hand tool for swaging and flaring the end of a thin wall tubing consisting of a frame; a force applying member reciprocably mounted on the frame; a die body mounted for reciprocal movement with the force applying member; and tube clamping means coupled to the frame for holding a tube in axial alignment with the force applying member and the die body: the improvement comprising said die body having a recess for receiving the end of a tubing to be swaged and flared, said recess having an annular flare forming opening of the diameter of the flare to be formed in the tubing, the

side wall of the opening tapering radially inwardly and terminating in a swaging portion disposed adjacent the flare forming opening and having a tapering side wall, the side wall tapering from the termination of said flare forming opening and terminating at a shoulder portion to prevent any movement of the end of the tubing being formed thereby.

2. The invention claimed in claim 1 wherein said shoulder portion is formed at the innermost end of the recess and extends completely thereacross.

3. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the diameter of the swaging portion adjacent the flare forming opening is substantially the same diameter as the outside of the tube being formed.

References (Zited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,100,939 11/1937 Brenner 72318 2,357,748 9/1944 Lyon 72-370 X 2,447,909 8/1948 Hunziker 72318 3,263,476 9/1966 Hinderer 72391 X CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

E. SUTTON, Assistant Examiner. 

